The first wave of Greek immigrants arrived in the United States in the 1890s, settling mainly in cities along the east coast. There are no exact statistics, but it has been estimated that between 1890 and 1930 some 450,000 Greeks had emigrated to the United States; more than 200,000 of them returned to Greece, however, either as volunteers during the First World War or because of the Great Depression in the States, and many more because they felt that they were not welcome in the United States.

The second phase of Greek immigration was between 1946 and 1960, following the end of the Second World War and the civil war, that left Greece in ruins. Most of the new immigrants came to the States for economic reasons and some as displaced persons. The third and final phase began in 1966 when the immigration laws were liberalized. It has been estimated that between 1945 and 1980 some 250,000 Greeks emigrated to the United States.

No accurate statistics exist, but, according to the 1990 census, in addition to those of immigrant status there are 1,110,373 Americans of Greek ancestry and there are nearly 400,000 whose mother tongue is Greek. All in all there may be close to 2 million Americans with Greek roots, most of them living in major cities throughout the United States.

While the early immigrants engaged in small business, including restaurants, newspaper parlors, dry-goods stores, shoemakers, tailor shops, grocery stores and bakeries, their descendants have turned to education, the sciences and professions. Thus today there are some 5,000 educators, college and university professors, including administrators of major universities, many physicians and lawyers, and many more in finance and business administration, including chief executives who served or serve major corporations such as Dow Chemical, Mobil Oil, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Thermo Electron, American Standard, Conoco, Boston Scientific, International Paper and Giant Foods—to mention just a few ranked by Forbes magazine.

Another major trend among Greek Americans of the second and third generation is interest in politics and civil service. In the last quarter of the twentieth century Americans have seen a vice-president (Spiro Agnew), presidential candidates (Michael Dukakis and Paul Tsongas), members of a president’s Cabinet (Peter Peterson) and advisers (George Stephanopoulos), several senators and members of Congress (Brademas, Sarbanes, Tsongas, Olympia Snow, Yatron, Gikas, Billirakis, Pappas, Galifianakis) of Greek origin.

Even though Greek names are easily recognizable, there are many Greek Americans who have shortened or changed their names for business or professional reasons (Anagnostopoulos=Agnew; Petropoulos =Peterson; Kyriazdis=Kress; Makris=Long; Papanikolaou=Paps). Today one finds Greek Americans in every profession, including radio, television, publishing, athletics and more.

In addition to local and state Greek American organizations such as the Pan-Macedonian, Cretan, Peloponnesian and Thessalian societies, Greek American concerns are voiced through several national organizations such as the American Hellenic Institute, the World Council of Hellenes Abroad and the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).

Over the course of seventy-five years, the Greek American community has gone through transitions, adaptations and acculturations. Nevertheless, they maintain a strong consciousness of the contributions and value of their historic heritage. Recent sociological studies indicate that Greek Americans “statistically possess the highest degree of academic achievement, i.e., education and degrees, of any ethnic group in the United States.” See also: Greek Orthodox.